Things Fall Apart is the story of the people in an Ibo village that face destruction with the arrival of white missionaries from England. It begins by centering on Okonkwo, an ambitious and strong man who rose to great standing despite his shameful father, in order to give background to the customs of the area and the thoughts behind his actions. It then follows Okonkwo through his demise and banishment due to an unfortunate incident. Partway through this story, a parallel story is introduced involving the white missionaries that come to the area and forcibly implement policies based on their religion and culture.

Achebe uses this book to communicate the lack of understanding between the white missionaries and the native tribe. By showcasing the perspective of the tribe, specifically of Okonkwo, Achebe challenges the views that many people (particularly Americans and Europeans) have about missions work in tribal nations.

This book is useful in an anthropological setting because it highlights the importance of anthropological concepts through presenting the tragedies that occur without them. A teacher of an anthropology class could use it to explain cultural relativism by examining the choices the people from the village make (i.e. the abandonment of twins in the forest) that the missionaries condemned without bothering to investigate. Ethnocentrism can be found in the way the missionaries felt the need to impose their culture onto the “primitive” people. A research anthropologist can use this book in similar ways, and to reinforce what not to do when dealing with people of other cultures.

Things Fall Apart is a helpful tool in discussion of anthropology because it inexplicitly points to a need for anthropological concepts through a novel.

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...philosopher, says that nothing good can ever come out of the absence of culture. Throughout history, many have argued that a society stripped of its culture is a society stripped of its soul. In the novel ThingsFallApart, the Ibo people are completely taken of their culture by the white colonialists. Despite a growing pattern of submission to new culture within the tribe, the people never truly lost their soul. The Ibo tribe was invaded by outsiders, their culture threatened with accusations on their way of life, worship, and customs, practically being forced into submission. The Ibo people may have been entirely stripped of their culture, but definitely not of their soul. Due to the colonialists attempting to assimilate the Ibo people, the tribe lost their culture but not the essence of who they are, allowing them to triumph against all odds.
The white people pushed to assimilate the Africans, especially in their religion, ultimately tearing families apart and disconnecting the tribe. Obierika even says, “The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on things that held us together and we have fallen apart,” (Achebe 152). As the British colonized the Ibo tribes in Africa, they brought with them their new...

...Separate Spheres of Genders
Chinua Achebe’s “ThingsFallApart” explores clashing gender roles. The women stay at home cooking and cleaning, only to be sold off as brides to their husbands and bear children. Men are active and aggressive, fighting wars and providing financially for the family. They have the power to physically beat their wives if they’re behaving unsatisfactorily. In the book, the old Ibo proverb “Mother is Supreme” is portrayed when Okonkwo gets exiled to his motherland. This proverb shows that no matter what happens between a child and their father, the child can always run to one’s mother. This holds the truth that mothers are the loving caretakers of the children in Ibo culture. The gender stereotypes divide the men and women in the society, creating separate spheres. Given the mother is supreme proverb, it is ironic that the Okonkwo society harshly oppresses its women.
“Mother is Supreme” is the idea that one can always run to their mother where they are safe from their troubles. When Okonkwo was exiled, he went to Mabanta, his Motherland, and was accepted with open arms by Uchendu, his uncle. This point was exemplified when Uchendu explains why mother is supreme, “A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland” (134). The mother is there to protect the child unconditionally against the father....

...When change is introduced within a society the reaction to it determines its survival or destruction. Chinua Achebe’s ThingsFallApart depicts an intricately woven African society existing in a period when it was believed that all non-European societies were uncivilized. The novel focuses on the nine Ibo-speaking villages of Umuofia, where tribal custom dictated every aspect of members' lives. With the arrival of the Europeans and the introduction of Christianity several conflicts arise which alters Umofia’s social organization, justice system and their religious beliefs.
It was almost inconceivable that an African society could be so complex and organized, with established social and political hierarchies and functional legal systems. In order for such a system to thrive there had to exist a well-defined relationship between the individual and the society, where each member has clearly defined roles within the family, tribe and community. The individual in Ibo society had several fundamental characteristics one of which was knowledge of his or her role within the immediate family circle. Each member of the family unit understood who the head was, and what was expected of them on a daily basis for continued survival and development.
Another noticeable attribute of the Ibo individual was the ability to clearly understand the structure of the community. As a member of a family group, one knew where his or her family fit in the...

...How could the text be read and interpreted differently by two different readers?
ThingsFallApart
Language and Literature
Thingsfallapart is a novel written by Chinua Achebe. It is set during the late 19th, early 20th century in a small village named Umuofia situated in Nigeria. This time period is important because it was a period in colonial history when the British were increasing their influence economic, cultural, and political influence in Africa. The novel deals with the rise and fall of Okonkwo, a man from the village of Umuofia. It also explains the effect of the appearance of the British on the Igbo society in terms of the destruction of social connections. In this text, there are several passages in which their interpretations could be different from each other and passages in which their interpretations could be rather similar by two different readers. The following paragraphs will focus on analyzing the possible interpretations of a Nigerian reader from the Igbo society and a British reader by using three passages of the novel.
The first citation is found in chapter 5. In this citation, Chinua Achebe talks about the way the Nigerian society respond when they’re called by their name, by saying «is that me? » (Achebe 41) because that was the way people answered calls from outside. Chinua adds that «they never answered yes for fear it might be an evil...

...Chinua Achebe’s ThingsFallApart is a story that describes the effects of a new Christian religion in a tribal village of Africa, called Umuofia. The novel is set during the late 1800s to early 1900s when the British were expanding their influence in Africa, economically, culturally, religiously, and politically. The book shows the colonization of Umuofia by the British and the negative and violent changes this brought about in the lives of the tribe members. Along with colonization was the arrival of the missionaries whose main aim was to spread the message of Christianity and to convert people to their religion. The conversion to Christianity of tribal peoples destroyed an intricate and traditional age-old way of life in the village. This is best seen in the rise and fall of the protagonist, Okonkwo, who could be understood to represent the best and worst of his culture. Eventually, Okonkwo can be seen as the symbol of the disintegration. Through the tragedy of Okonkow, one can see that that a failure to adapt to a changing society, can cause even the strongest and proudest of men to fallapart when it appears to them that everything around them is falling apart to. ThingsFallApart is a tireless tale of human’s nature’s ultimate struggle with evolution**
” The general vision of this this novel is how the cohesiveness and...

...In ThingsFallApart by Chinua Achebe, women of the Ibo
tribe are terribly mistreated, and viewed as weak and
receive little or no respect outside of their role as a mother.
Tradition dictates their role in life. These women are
courageous and obedient. These women are nurturers above
all and they are anything but weak. In the novel ThingsFallApart, Okonkwo has several wives. He orders them around
like dogs. They are never to question what they are
instructed to do; they are expected to be obedient. We
clearly see this early in the story, when Okonkwo brings
Ikemefuna into his home. Okonkwo tells his senior wife that
Ikemefuna belongs to the tribe and that she is expected to
look after him. She in turn asks him if he will be staying with
them for a long period of time. This sends Okonkwo into a
fury. He snaps at her in a very degrading manner, "Do what
you are told woman. When did you become one of the
ndichie (meaning elders) of Umuofia?"(pg.12) Clearly she
receives no respect. Later in the story we see this woman try
to comfort Ikemefuna. She "mothers" him as if he is one of
her own children. She tries to put him at ease and can almost
instinctively feel how much he misses his own mother.
In keeping with the Ibo view of female nature, the tribe
allows wife beating. Okonkwo beats his youngest wife
one-day because she was visiting with a friend and did not
get...

...﻿Alizee Natsoulis
Ms Hauskens
BIHS Global Literature, P2
Success is in the Eye of the Beholder
Okonkwo, from ThingsFallApart by Chiuna Achebe, fits perfectly into the tragic hero archetype. His characteristics, initially seen as qualities, help him acheive the status of a titled clansmen and a respected warrior. However, these qualities eventually turn into tragic flaws and end up causing Okonkwo’s downfall. These three tragic flaws are: his pride, his determination to be manly and his narrow mindset.
Initially Okonkwo’s pride serves him well and leads him to become a respected man in Umofia. He uses his pride as a mecanism to avoid showing signs of weakness and maintaining his respected status in Umofia. His personal pride allows him to celebrate his success and seperate himself from the shame of his father: “He had begun even in his father’s lifetime to lay the foundations of a prosperous future. It was slow and painful. But he threw himself into it like one possessed. And indeed he was possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life and shameful death” (18). By examining this quote, it becomes clear that his motivation in life is to never be associated with his father’s failure. It’s almost as if he feels he must carry the weight of both him and his father. His success is a compensation for...

...Yiran Meng
ThingsFallApart paper
12/1/2011
Umuofia is a primitive and polytheist clan in Nigeria. People in the tribe uphold their own system of tradition, taboo and justice. Several gods that influence all aspect of the members’ life are worshiped, and profane conducts are punished severely. People are not concerned about their personal interests, as they help each other altruistically. As a matter of fact, all the people in the tribe live harmoniously. However, as Achebe depicts in the second part of ThingsFallApart, everything in the clan fallsapart due to the appearance of British missionaries. When Christianity is first spread in the tribes, the converts are mostly people who are not valued in the tribe, yet more and more members of the clan are captivated by the new religion under the numerous enticements brought by the leader of the church. The instillation of Christian creeds in the tribe combined with the naivety and superstition of the tribal men gradually devastate people’s communal tradition and religion, which once held the uncivilized and loose culture together as a whole unit; people lose the tribal spirit, so they no longer help each other and start to cast for their own profits. Therefore, everything fallsapart.
There is a group of people in the clan that are not appreciated due to tribal tradition and...